Finding Comfort in Love
by ChoCedric
Summary: "I love you," Cedric whispered, burying his face in her hair. He took enormous comfort from the presence of the beautiful girl in his arms. "I love you too," she whispered back. What if Harry had died instead of Cedric on the night of the third task? The day after, Cedric and Cho share a precious moment. Cedric is filled with guilt, and Cho is there for him.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Finding Comfort in Love

By: ChoCedric

Cedric Diggory was still numb as he walked from the hospital wing, where he'd stayed last night, to the Hufflepuff common room. He still could not get his mind around what had happened last night. The flash of green light meant for him, but that had been taken by Harry instead, looped endlessly through his mind. Harry had thrown his body in front of Cedric's, taking the curse for him.

Then, there was the horrible ritual Cedric had been involved in to bring Voldemort back. He remembered his horror, the look of Harry's lifeless eyes staring into nothingness, the cackles and catcalls of the Death Eaters as Cedric was cursed with the Cruciatus.

Then, Voldemort had made the two of them duel, but Wormtail, the man who had murdered Harry, had given him Harry's wand instead of his. Cedric recalled with crystal clear clarity Harry coming out of Voldemort's wand, telling Cedric that he was okay, he was happy now, and to take his body back to Hogwarts, to escape. So, with the last of his adrenaline pouring through his system, Cedric had done that very thing.

He remembered the screams, the sobs, the wails of "Harry Potter is dead!" that had pierced through the air of the summer night. Dumbledore had taken him back to his office, and Cedric had told him everything. Dumbledore had then revealed that he had caught Bartemius Crouch, who had been pretending to be Mad-Eye Moody all year. He hadn't explained how he had caught him, but Cedric was secretly glad - his mind couldn't take in any more right then.

These thoughts took him to the portrait of the Fat Friar, and he muttered the password quietly. He then walked into the common room, where everyone had been talking quietly amongst themselves. But they all went silent at the sight of Cedric.

"Hey, Ced," said one of his best friends, Melissa, gently as she came up to him. "We've all been so worried about you."

"Hey, Lissa," Cedric said softly. "How are you?"

"I'm so sorry," Melissa said sincerely, hugging Cedric. "I'm so sorry about what happened to Harry." Many of the Hufflepuffs nodded in agreement.

"I'm sorry, too," Cedric said, guilt gnawing at him again. "He gave up his life for me."

"But why would he do that?" asked Stanley, one of his dormmates. "He barely knew you. Not that we're not thrilled you're alive, mate," he continued, clapping Cedric on the back. He and Stanley had been mates for years, along with their two other roommates, Jeff and Malcolm.

"I don't know," Cedric answered miserably.

"Is it really true about You-Know-Who?" asked Frank Stockton, a second-year Hufflepuff. "Did he really come back? I heard you saying that on the pitch last night."

"Yeah, it's true," Cedric said in a monotone. "He used my blood to come back."

Cedric's friends and the other Hufflepuffs gasped. Stanley, Jeff, Malcolm, Melissa, all of them truly didn't know how to feel. They had never imagined life without their friend, so it was impossible to picture what the results would have been if Harry had not saved him. The one who was having the hardest time of it was Stanley; he tried to put up a strong front, but inside he was quailing.

"That's awful!" Hannah Abbott sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You know, I always thought Harry was a strange boy. During that whole Chamber of Secrets thing, I kind of suspected ..."

"Yeah, me too," admitted Ernie McMillan ashamedly. "But that truly wasn't the case."

"No, it wasn't," Cedric said firmly. "He didn't attack anyone."

"Come and sit with us, mate," Malcolm said, patting the seat beside him. Cedric, who was getting overwhelmed with all the attention, reluctantly sat down.

"Look," he said after a moment. "Please don't badger me about last night. It was no fun, it was a horrible thing to witness, and you don't really want to know what happened. So please don't ask."

"Okay," another younger student, Elly, said softly. "We should tell you, though, that Harry's friends have been looking for you."

"They want answers," Susan Bones added.

Cedric sighed. "I know they do," he said heavily. He knew he'd have to give them the answers they so desperately wanted at some point in time.

xxx

Later that day, Cedric was walking the hallways because he didn't know what else to do. He felt emotionally drained from all the talking, and he needed a distraction.

And at that moment, he knew just what he needed. He needed someone who he could just sit and be quiet with, someone that wouldn't pester him about the goings-on of last night. With that in mind, he made his way to the Ravenclaw tower. The person which he sought had told him the password to get in ages ago.

As Cedric entered the common room, he saw the person he wanted to see sprawled on one of the couches, talking quietly with her friend Marietta. "Cho?" Cedric asked softly, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Cho turned to look at him, her face softening. "Cedric," she said gently.

"Can we ..." Cedric started, but Cho didn't need him to finish his sentence. She said something to Marietta, who smiled softly at her. Cho and Cedric then walked out of the common room and headed up to the Astronomy Tower in silence.

When they got there, they sat down and gazed out at the sky. Since it was still daylight, there were no stars out yet, but Cho and Cedric still loved the view. Cedric put his arm around her, drawing strength from her comforting presence.

After a few minutes of silence, Cedric said slowly, "It was supposed to be me."

Cho made direct eye contact with him. "Don't say that, love," she whispered. Tears came to her eyes as she thought about what it would be like if her boyfriend had lost his life last night. She couldn't even imagine the feelings that would arise within her if she had to see his cold, lifeless body lying on the Quidditch pitch with everyone screaming "Dead! Dead! Diggory's dead!" around it.

"I can't help it," Cedric muttered self-deprecatingly. "It wasn't meant to be Harry. He was so young."

"So are you, though, Ced," Cho tried to reason with him. "And I couldn't live without you."

"Me, neither," Cedric said honestly, and he meant that with all his heart. "But God, Cho, it was horrible. He just jumped in front of the curse and he was just ... gone."

Then, without being able to stop it, the whole story poured out of Cedric. He'd told himself that he wasn't ready to share this with Cho yet, but her comforting aura surrounded him and spurred him onward. He told her of the awful ordeal of Harry dying and Voldemort coming back. "And then his Death Eaters arrived," he said.

"What were they like?" asked Cho slowly.

"They were horrible," Cedric replied, shuddering at the memory. "And I was also put under the Cruciatus Curse. It was the most awful I've ever felt."

Cho looked at him in horror, more tears stinging her eyes. "The C-C-Cruciatus Curse?" she stammered. "Oh, Cedric!"

"I'm okay, love," Cedric reassured her, stroking her shiny black hair. "Then, after he'd made a speech to his Death Eaters, You-Know-Who and I duelled."

"You actually duelled with him?" Cho said in shock. "How ... what happened?"

So Cedric, choking back his own tears, explained how Wormtail had accidentally given him Harry's wand, and when the two wands tried to cast spells against each other, Priori Incantatem had occurred. "And Harry came out of the end of his wand," said Cedric, not being able to help the tears that now leaked freely from his eyes. He leaned against Cho, feeding on her love and strength. "And he ... he asked me to bring his body back. I couldn't leave him there!"

"Cedric, you did the right thing," Cho whispered, crying also. The couple clung to each other and sought solace in each other's aromas. Cedric smelled so good, of cologne and love, and Cho smelled like fresh flowers. "I'm so proud of you, love."

"Cho, how can you be proud of me when I let Harry die?" Cedric sobbed in anguish.

"Ced, he gave up his life because he wanted you to live," Cho said, gently wiping tears off of Cedric's face. "He wouldn't want you to be like this. He wouldn't blame you for not saving him."

"Why did he save me, though?" Cedric wept. "I'm not worth it! I'm just a mess, all I am is a big disappointment to my father and a big failure to myself because I can never do anything right!"

"That's not true at all!" Cho shrieked, shocked that her boyfriend could say such things about himself. "Of course you're worth it! Do you think I could go a day without you?" She squeezed his hand, looking into his tear-filled gray eyes. "I love you, and don't ever forget that! And I'm sure that deep down, your father's really proud of you, he just doesn't realize it consciously. You're his son, Cedric, you mean the world to him!"

"I love you too, Cho," Cedric said, his voice cracking. "But how am I supposed to go on? The whole damn Hufflepuff house expects me to be strong, expects me to be their beacon of guidance. But how can I do that when I'm so lost inside?"

"You don't always need to be strong, love," Cho soothed. "Sometimes it's right to just let go. Let the others be the strong ones for once. What you went through was a terrible ordeal, and you need time to come to grips with it. It's okay, Cedric, I'm here for you. Just let go and cry."

At these words, every bit of resolve Cedric had mustered since last night vanished, and he was sobbing in Cho's arms. The two teenage lovers continued to cling to one another, and Cedric couldn't thank the heavens enough for bringing Cho into his life. Since the Quidditch World Cup last year, she'd been a special light in his life, and he never wanted to lose her. Before Cedric knew it, his lips were on hers, and they were kissing desperately, winding hands in hair, still weeping. Cho couldn't believe he was still solid, still so alive, in her arms when the prospect of losing him had been a millisecond away. Cedric had raw emotion filling him as he cherished every second he was with her.

When they broke apart, Cho said softly, "I told you that Harry asked me to the Yule Ball last year, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did," croaked Cedric, wiping away the last of his tears. "You said he was really embarrassed."

"He was," Cho said, smiling softly at the memory. "Even though I didn't return his crush, I thought he was an awfully sweet boy. It doesn't surprise me that he gave his life to protect you. You know, I saw him with his relatives once at King's Cross station. They looked like a rotten-looking bunch of people."

"Yeah, I wonder about Harry's home life," Cedric said pensively. "Do you think that's why he gave up his life, because he was so miserable at home?"

"I don't know," Cho answered truthfully. "But it was a very noble thing to do. I'll miss him, you know."

"I barely knew him, but I'll miss him too," Cedric said, feeling the guilt pour off of Cho. He knew she was feeling guilty because she was thankful that it had been Cedric, the one who meant everything to her, who had come out of the maze alive. He squeezed her tightly, knowing she was battling with these feelings. "He had a good heart. You know, telling me about the dragons and all."

"You have a wonderful heart, too," Cho told him. "You told him about the egg clue."

"Oh, that was nothing," Cedric said. "And then he saved my neck twice in the maze. And that was before he gave up his life."

"I feel so bad for Gryffindor house," Cho said. "I especially feel bad for Hermione Granger - she's taking this really hard. Harry was her best friend, though, so of course it's understandable."

"And Ginny Weasley must be really upset too," Cedric said softly. "I think she had a crush on him. Dunno if he returned her feelings, though."

"I don't think he did," Cho mused. "I often wondered whether there was something going on between him and Hermione, though. But after that horrible article in the Daily Prophet which demeaned them, I don't think there is."

"I don't think they were together either," Cedric agreed. "Just really good friends."

"Listen, Cedric," Cho said after a few more minutes of quiet. "I know you're lost and vulnerable right now, and I'll do everything I can to help you through this difficult time. But above all, I want you to know how much I love and care about you, and I never want to hear you say you're not worth it ever again. Harry would want you to honor his sacrifice, not blame yourself for his death. As for the Ministry not believing you, I'm convinced that they'll come around, especially when You-Know-Who comes out in the open."

"They won't have a choice then," Cedric said. Looking Cho right in the eye, he continued, "I love and care about you too. But it's all right if you ... want to take a break for a while. I don't want to, but I don't want to burden you with a mess like me."

Cho's face filled with tenderness. "Of course I still want to be with you," she reassured him. "The last six months have been the best of my life. Promise me that you'll never say you're not worth it again."

"I promise," Cedric said with all the sincerity he could.

And they kissed again, and for the first time since last night, Cedric felt truly comforted. They stayed like that for the rest of the afternoon, simply snuggled in each other's arms. Cedric knew that confrontations with Harry's friends were brewing, and a difficult road lay ahead for him. But as long as he had this beautiful girl by his side, he knew that everything would be all right. After all, you could always find comfort in love. 


End file.
